Latest articles by Paul Sexton
Roy Harper tried to retire in 2013, but returned with Man & Myth instead
When a new generation of acclaimed musicians discovered the folk-rock veteran’s music he gave up his attempt to bow out, but made sure his most recent album to date remained typically non-commercial and challenging to understand
Procol Harum didn’t expect 50th anniversary album Novum to be their last
When Procol Harum released 50th anniversary album Novum in 2017, vocalist Gary Brooker and lyricist Pete Brown made it clear they weren’t expecting it to be their last
Kris Kristofferson on Janis Joplin, Johnny Cash and country music
An interview with the late Kris Kristofferson: singer, songwriter, actor and legend
“It’s only artifice when you say it’s something it isn’t”: Peter Gabriel’s passion for video
Nearly 30 years after Sledgehammer cleaned up at the MTV Awards, he was pushing boundaries again with his Back To Front concert movie
How a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel became a Steeleye Span album
The late comic fantasy genius persuaded his favourite band to adapt 2006’s Wintersmith for folk rock, and both parties were delighted with the result
Why Ian Anderson kept up the silly and sarcastic on solo album Homo Erraticus
2014 title featured another outing for Gerald Bostock, and indulged the band leader’s passion for being an “amateur flute player”
“I would love to have been part of some of those great later pieces… But the price you pay is that some people’s lives are not happy”: What if Anthony Phillips hadn’t left Genesis?
Dispelling some of the myths surrounding his departure, the driving force of the formative days shares his theory on how the band might have collapsed anyway
“To me, it was like getting the car back on the road. The fact that we only managed to do about 10 shows before the wheels came off again was a bit of a slap from the gods”: Despite the challenges, Fairport Convention never gave up
Simon Nicol reflects on how British folk prog pioneers Fairport Convention took a career path rather than a short cut to temporary success
“People like bits of what we do, then they don’t like bits… and the reality is that half of the band don’t like half of what we do”: Steeleye Span never stop taking risks
Maddy Prior on building on the bedrock of traditional music - and knowing how far to take it
He took guitar lessons from Robert Fripp, set out to destroy his old self with an album he hoped would fail, then made the resulting niche his own – Al Stewart's prog credentials ring loud
“To me, the prog bands were Camel or something… who could play tons of solos, very musical and with lots of different time signatures. I’m not sure my stuff qualifies for that”
"It’s the biggest project I was ever involved with." How Steve Hackett made Genesis Revisited II
Steve Hackett corralled some of the biggest names in modern prog to re-interpret classic Genesis songs for Genesis Revisited II.
The making of Strawbs Settlement album
Strawbs mainman Dave Cousins discusses the band's 22nd album, 2021's Settlement
The story of Renaissance's Northern Lights
In 1978 UK proggers Renaissance found themselves in the UK Top 10 with this track from their album A Song For All Seasons
Ashley Hutchings on the progressive spirit that fuelled his classic albums
The story of Ashley Hutchings is the story of modern-day folk music. He founded Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and The Albion Band, and tells Prog about the prog spirit that fuels him.
In and out of Traffic: the fantastic career of Jim Capaldi
Jim Capaldi made wonderful music with Traffic, and on a run of seriously star-studded solo albums
Pentangle's Jacqui McShee lines up London show for September 3
Jacqui McShee to play Sutton venue The Sound Lounge - 150 yards from where she began her career
ChimpanA to take part in virtual concert to honour Carole King's Tapestry
ChimpanA give the progressive touch to Carole King's classic Tapestry album on livestream tomorrow
The Prog Interview: Alan Parsons on Abbey Road, The Beatles and more!
While at Abbey Road, Alan Parsons worked his magic on everyone from Pink Floyd to Al Stewart and The Beatles, then came out from behind the mixing desk to form The Alan Parsons Project.
Progressive folk reviews round-up
Not yet ratedPaul Sexton scours the new releases to find there’s nowt so prog as folk, with the latest releases fromShirley Collins, Alasdair Roberts, Sham, Luke Daniels, Stick In The Wheel and more
Progressive Folk album reviews column
Not yet ratedPaul Sexton’s pick of acoustic-styled songsmiths, old and new, with the latest releases from Lankum, David Thomas Broughton, Jon Boden, Megan Henwood and Chris Simmons
Fairport Convention - Come All Ye — The First Ten Years album review
Not yet ratedFairport Convention’s initial decade, documented via familiar and unreleased material in a trove of 120-plus tracks
Progressive Folk album reviews column
Not yet ratedPaul Sexton’s pick of acoustic-styled songsmiths, old and new, featuring Lianne Hall, William The Conqueror, The Black Guards, Jenny Lindfors, Ashley Hutchings, Anne Briggs and Stackridge
How Peter Frampton came alive
Those characteristic talkbox echoes can only mean one thing: Peter Frampton, the ‘Face of ’68’ and a main ingredient in Humble Pie. In 1976 he came alive with a live-album monster
"We've been going 50 years, it's time to make some effort." Procol Harum reflect on their golden era
The 50th anniversary of their debut may be approaching, showed Procol Harum weren’t slowing down. Prog caught up with frontman, the late Gary Brooker, and new lyricist Pete Brown to find out more
